


Demons Strictly Cash

by haekass



Category: Dreamcatcher (Korea Band), Super Junior
Genre: Found Family, M/M, kinda like callahan's, massive sexual tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-05-11
Packaged: 2019-05-05 14:58:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14621115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haekass/pseuds/haekass
Summary: Haru & One Day Bar Rules:-Pay with what you've got-Tabs are for regulars only-Mind the floating tables-Be careful of who you agree to a contract with-Be respectful to Cael, he has permission to bite-Dragons reminder: in summer, do not heat-Incubi cannot come in hungry-Goblins, leave bats at the door-Hani is not interested in you and will not teleport into your bathroom stall-Do not mess with Donghae or his daughter





	1. all beings welcome

**Author's Note:**

> okay so Kara blackmailed me - if I want some resolution of that INCREDIBLE tension in Gingerbread & Tinsel's last two chapters, I had to write. Talk about incentive. 

“The regular, Eunhyuk?”

 

“Of course. How’s little Siyeon?”

 

Donghae smiled, no longer perturbed that all of his _special_ guests knew about his adopted daughter and had asked about her frequently for the three years he’d had custody of her. “She’s anxious to be back home already,” he replied honestly as he mixed Eunhyuk’s drink, the same one he’d been making ever since Eunhyuk had first come into his bar. “Honestly, if you ask me, I think that it was a little early to be shipped off to a boarding school, but she already had these past few years paid for and arranged by the will.”

 

Eunhyuk’s red eyes crinkled a bit as he smiled. “She will be allowed to return completely this year?”

 

Donghae nodded and slid the martini glass across the bar. “She’s almost exhausted her teachers’ knowledge and her control is much better now. She can at least stop giving me nightmares when she’s home.”

 

For a split second, Donghae saw the red irises turn a bit molten as plump lips quirked. Eunhyuk’s long and graceful finger trailed lazily around the rim of his glass before he picked it up. “I suppose that I should actually ask you out on a date before she returns. I would prefer to be the only one in your dreams.”

 

Donghae grinned as he picked up a bar towel to wipe the counter down. They’d had this kind of banter before, but had always gotten interrupted, or one of them had backed down before anything could come of it. “I suppose you should ask me properly instead of hinting at it.” Looking back up, he froze in place, ensnared by the hot look he felt all the way down to his toes.

 

Eunhyuk leaned slightly over the bar to softly stroke his fingers down Donghae’s jaw. “Would you grant me the pleasure of your presence for dinner tomorrow night at my place?”

 

“Dinner?” Donghae shakily asked.

 

Eunhyuk rubbed his finger across Donghae’s lower lip. “Dinner… and perhaps dessert.”

 

“Seven?”

 

“A perfect time.” Eunhyuk took a deep breath. “Do please show up smelling just like… this,” he whispered into Donghae’s ear.

 

“I don’t think that will be a problem,” Donghae mumbled, tempted to turn his face just enough to encourage a kiss, or to just drag Eunhyuk across the bar and up the stairs to the large apartment he lived in.

 

Eunhyuk chuckled lowly. “Patience, _baobei_. The payoff will be worth the wait.” He pulled back, and Donghae braced his hands on the bar, breathing hard as he tried to regain his scattered wits.

 

A female form shimmered into being next to Eunhyuk, a glass already in her hands. “Eunhyuk, Donghae,” she greeted throatily.

 

“Hani, always a pleasure to see you,” Eunhyuk replied, waving a hand. Several bottles lifted off the shelf behind Donghae and poured themselves into Hani’s glass.

 

Hani looked unimpressed at the display, but she smiled when she looked at Donghae fully. “Oh, did I interrupt?” she teased.

 

“I do have some decorum,” Donghae replied, his voice still a little shaky.

 

“We were merely confirming a plan for dinner,” Eunhyuk added, leaning on the bar.

 

Hani snorted as she shimmered again, her form disappearing. “About time,” were her final words before she winked back out.

 

“You know she’s going to tell everyone,” Donghae said.

 

Eunhyuk looked amused. “I hope so.” He reached out and lifted one of Donghae’s hands, placing a delicate kiss on the jagged, uneven scars that stretched from his inner wrist to his palm. “Seven, tomorrow night.”

 

“Want me to bring anything?” Donghae was already shivering with excitement.

 

“Some wine would not be amiss, but the only thing I require showing up is you. I will see you then, Donghae.”

 

With a final wink, Eunhyuk slid away from the bar, wandering through the medium sized crowd of demons, dragons, normal businesspeople, and the occasional goblin that regularly gathered every night. Donghae took a moment to himself, thankful that the regulars could take care of their own drinks if they really wanted to have a refill. Most of them would even pay for it, too.

 

//

 

Donghae was having one hell of an early shift and he was literally counting down the minutes to where he could leave. He’d already broken up three potential fights, and only one of those was not caused by drunkenness. Of course, since it had to do with Hyorin’s affections, he really shouldn’t have been surprised.

 

“I didn’t realize I was even hungry,” Hyorin pouted.

 

Donghae laughed as he pulled her and another stunningly gorgeous woman through the store room and towards the back exit. “This time, don’t worry about it. You’re usually good about making sure you’re full before you come in.” Disengaging the alarm, he popped the door open, letting the two women sneak out.

 

Hyorin gave him a hug as he brushed a kiss across her cheek. “Eat well,” he playfully chided.

 

She glanced down pointedly, a smirk tilting her lips. “If I didn’t know you were already spoken for, I’d offer to let you join in.”

 

Donghae smiled. “Heard about that already?”

 

“I don’t know who hasn’t. Everyone’s favorite bartender and Eunhyuk finally hooking up? That might as well have made national news.”

 

Hyorin laughed as Donghae shook his head, embarrassed. “Go on,” he said, shooing them onward and shutting the door behind them, thankfully killing the effect of the intense pheromones of a hungry incubus.

 

It still took almost five minutes for the physical reaction to fade, but as soon as he felt he was able, he slid back behind the bar, noting the large wolf-dog already in the space.

 

“Oh, hey Cael, you’ve been helping everyone?”

 

“Yep!” Cael barked at him, his normal enthusiasm making his tail swing wildly. “Only a few needed anything,” he continued as he sat down on his haunches, his tail still wagging.

 

“Thanks man,” Donghae said as he ruffled Cael’s fur. He’d never asked as to how Cael could actually speak considering canines and humans had vastly different skeletal and muscular structures, but given that Cael could also use telekinesis, he just chalked it up to his mental category of ‘magic, that’s why.’

 

None of the ‘norms’ that wandered in seemed to be overly concerned with a talking, telekinetic wolf behind the bar serving drinks, but Donghae wondered if someone had put a ward on his bar to make anyone who wasn’t supposed to know immediately forget about the things that occasionally happened there. But then again, his bar was apparently becoming harder and harder for normal people to find in the past three years, so he wasn’t too concerned about it.

 

“If you want, I’ve got a few good hanwoo steaks for you chilling the in refrigerator in the back.”

 

Cael barked a laugh. “You know the way to my heart,” he said as he padded into the kitchen.

 

Donghae breathed a sigh of relief when it looked like everyone who was in the bar had what they wanted or needed, and he could take a quick break to count up the till to make sure no obscene amount had been taken while he was gone. He had just gotten started when the door opened, allowing Eunhyuk to stroll in.

 

Donghae looked at the clock, panicked that time had somehow sped up and it was already after seven. Sighing with utter relief that it was still well before six, he tilted his head curiously at Eunhyuk as he perched on a bar stool.

 

“I was worried that I was late,” he said by way of greeting.

 

“I didn’t want to wait to see you,” Eunhyuk replied. “We’ve been interrupted so often, it seemed prudent to take precautions against it happening again.”

 

Donghae shifted as his dick started to harden again.

 

Eunhyuk seemed to notice. “Thinking about me often?”

 

Donghae smiled. “Well, yes and no. Yes, I’ve been thinking about our dinner plans all day, but no… Hyorin was here and didn’t realize she was hungry,” he explained as he closed the till, his concentration for anything but Eunhyuk totally gone.

 

Eunhyuk chuckled lowly as his drink mixed itself. “Your powers of restraint are higher than what I thought,” he teased.

 

Donghae rested his forearms on the bar. “She also mentioned something about knowing that I was spoken for, so she was also restraining herself.” He waited a beat, amused that Eunhyuk had paused with his drink halfway to his mouth. “She left with someone.”

 

Eunhyuk’s eyebrows raised, his eyes settling back into their normal deep red color. “Anyone we know?”

 

“Maybe? I’m pretty sure it was one of the Yoon clan fae.”

 

“I think Bora is the only one in the city at the moment. That’s a hookup I did not expect.”

 

“If it is Yoon Bora, she’s got a wicked punch.”

 

Eunhyuk nodded as he took a drink. “That would be her,” he mumbled. When his eyes met Donghae’s again, Donghae felt his knees nearly buckle. “Hm, is there any chance you could leave early?”

 

Donghae shrugged. “Until Jiwoo shows up after her class, not really. The only other one that can reasonably take over and not rob me blind is Cael.”

 

Eunhyuk’s nose wrinkled a bit in disappointment. “Ah well, I tried.”

 

“I wish I could,” Donghae said softly as he reached out to rub his fingers against Eunhyuk’s hand. “It’s equally tempting to hand over everything to Jiwoo as soon as she gets here and just drag you upstairs with me to completely forget about dinner.”

 

Eunhyuk’s eyes were burning as he stared at Donghae and Donghae stared back, the noise of the bar fading back into a soft hum. The tension between them was thick enough to choke, and Donghae was about ready to forget about his reservations about having an open bar to just drag Eunhyuk upstairs when a sharp ring sounded. Both of them jerked, startled by the interruption, before they looked at each other and sighed.

 

Eunhyuk recovered his humor first. “Ah well, it seems fate wants us to keep our arranged time.”

 

“I’m ready to punch fate and tell them to quit cockblocking me already,” Donghae muttered as he walked over to the phone that was still ringing.

 

“Haru and One Day,” he snapped into the phone, hoping that whatever poor sap misdialed the number would hang up as soon as they realized their mistake.

 

“Dad?”

 

Donghae felt every atom in his body stop at Siyeon’s quivering, hushed voice. “Siyeon? What’s wrong?”

 

“Dad, some people are here at school–“ Her sentence ended in a scream.

 

“Siyeon?” he yelled, panic rising.

 

A deep voice growled something, slightly muffled by distance. He felt his heart stop as he heard a hard smack, then the sound of a body hitting the floor, then a barked order.

 

“ _Siyeon_ ,” Donghae shouted, his hand gripping the phone tightly to keep it from shaking. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and jerked his head around, but relaxed as soon as he saw it was Eunhyuk sliding over the bar to stand next to him. Everyone in the room had gathered to stand at the bar, completely silent.

 

“Five… million. US. One… day.”

 

“What?” Donghae nearly shrieked. The halting words and heavy accent told him that someone was basically looking up words as they were trying to talk.

 

“Five million, US, one day. Daughter… have... hostage. Pay. Life.”

 

The phone went dead in his hands, and Donghae felt close to collapsing. If it hadn’t been for Eunhyuk practically holding him up, he would have.

 

“What happened?” Eunhyuk asked, his hands smoothing down Donghae’s arms to release the death grip he had on the phone.

 

Donghae took one deep breath and then another to try and force himself to string together a coherent sentence. “Someone has Siyeon. They want five million US dollars by tomorrow.” He felt panic rise back up as he looked at Eunhyuk. “I don’t have that kind of money,” he said, his voice quivering, impotent rage fighting with the panic.

 

“No money,” Eunhyuk growled, his eyes flashing with hints of gold and the power he had. A round of agreeing murmurs floated around, including a deep, growling bark from Cael.

 

“Huh?” Donghae asked, his eyes wide.

 

“We’re going to get her back.”


	2. brilliance in action

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ready to have some fun? ps y'all can thank kara for making me rewrite this from the utter crap I had before and for betaing on the fly

“Where’s her school?” Eunhyuk asked as he grabbed a stack of napkins and set them down on the bar, fanning them out in the rough shape of a piece of paper.

 

Donghae took in another deep breath, holding up a finger to indicate he needed a moment. “France, about forty minutes southwest of Paris. It’s in the….” He trailed off as panic made his memory blank. He jerked when he felt warm, soft hands cup his jaw, but the panic faded back again when he looked into Eunhyuk’s red eyes.

 

“We’re getting our little girl back,” Eunhyuk said firmly, and even through the panic, Donghae’s heart fluttered at the way he said _our little girl_.

 

“I know we will,” he replied quietly, his hands coming up to hold Eunhyuk’s. “It’s in the Regional Natural Park of Morvan, but I can’t remember where exactly. Somewhere on the northwest side, towards Avilon, I think.”

 

“Here, hold my clothes,” Hani suddenly said as she shimmered into being behind the bar, naked as the day she was born.

 

Donghae dumbly took the bundle of clothing as Hani dumped a bucket of ice water over her head and then promptly shimmered out of existence. “That’s… new.”

 

“High speed teleportation to multiple locations creates a lot of friction, she and her clothes would basically be on fire,” Taemin said as he walked up to the bar, pulling his hair up into two small buns that resembled horns. His baseball bat, covered in blackened smoke, barbed wire, and various jagged pieces of glass and metal, was already by his side.

 

“Where’s your boyfriend?” Eunhyuk asked, not looking up from drawing a complicated looking sigil on the napkins.

 

“On his way, he had to settle a few seedlings in before the sun started to set.”

 

Hani shimmered back into being, her hair dry and crackling, her face flushed as she breathed heavily. Donghae automatically poured her a glass of ice water, which she downed in one gulp. Everyone pointedly kept their eyes on her face as she grabbed the pen out of Eunhyuk’s hand and drew a quick map on a napkin. “That’s what I remember. Looks like there’s fifteen armed norms, Siyeon is in a room with six other girls, but some of the armed norms were there, so I couldn’t really come all the way in. I’m pretty sure that Siyeon saw me start to come in and not think it was sunlight.”

 

Eunhyuk nodded. “That’s fine, thanks for the help.”

 

Hani and her clothes started to shimmer back out. “No problem, I wish I could do more. Good luck.”

 

Donghae already has his phone out, searching maps for the location Hani drew. “ _Dammit_ will you hurry up,” he muttered as the map slowly downloaded. Throwing his phone down on the bar in frustration when it _still_ wasn’t loading fast enough, he stormed into the back room with the intent of getting his computer to see if it would _go faster so he could get to Siyeon sooner_ but halfway through, the rage took over. He threw anything he could get his hands on that wasn’t nailed down; he shattered glass bottles and threw a metal folding chair against the wall so hard that it bent badly and would never be useable again. When he finally slid to the floor like a puppet with its strings severed, completely tapped out, his wet cheeks and sore throat made him realize that he’d been sobbing the entire time.

 

He’d sworn over and over and _over again_ that he’d protect Siyeon from anything that tried to hurt her ever again, with his life if need be, but he wasn’t _there_ and she was _scared_ and _hurt_ and it was _killing him_. He couldn’t imagine life without his little nightmare anymore, which in other circumstances would have been hilarious because he hadn’t thought about kids – it had been hard enough finding a man he’d actually want to be with for long enough to even have that discussion – until Siyeon was literally blasted into his life.

 

No one had ever been able to work out what actually happened, and Donghae’s memory of the day was pretty much a blank – the non-recollection of that day still unnerved him, but he’d been assured that his mind was just suppressing the trauma of the explosion. Since he and Siyeon were the only two out of forty-five that survived the blast, no one else could help them piece things together. He still wasn’t sure how he even survived, or how he managed to save himself and Siyeon but she was in danger now and he _still wasn’t there with her_ …

 

“Tea,” a soft voice said, startling Donghae so badly that he bumped into a stack of boxes, knocking the top one down and shattering the glass bottles inside it.

 

Blinking, Donghae focused on Jongin, holding a cup of tea out to him with a soft, caring smile.

 

“Tea?” Donghae repeated blankly, almost uncomprehending.

 

Jongin shrugged bashfully, the soft leaves in his hair that connected him with his tree at all times were moving in an unfelt breeze. “And maybe a few other things, but tea.”

 

Donghae shook his head. “I can’t sleep, I have to get to Siyeon…”

 

“This will most definitely keep you awake. For… probably a while and probably with a lot of excess energy. Right now, it’s to help clear your mind from the anxious branches sprouting from deep within. Eunhyuk is almost complete with the sigil that will take you to your seedling, and she probably has vegetative thoughts and anxious branches that can only be cleared away by soaking in your sunlight.”

 

Sometimes Jongin’s plant metaphors went right over Donghae’s head, but he could guess what he meant. Donghae took the cup from Jongin and after an experimental sip to judge the temperature, he drained it in nearly one shot. He was pretty sure that some soju had been splashed in for good measure, but mostly it was citrus tasting concoction, and a few tiny specks clung to the bottom and sides of the cup when he was done.

 

Jongin’s mixed teas always packed a punch, but the fizziness wasn’t something he expected. “Champagne or carbonated water?” he asked after a moment of trying to think of what he had open behind the bar.

 

“I found the champagne first,” Jongin said as he shrugged.

 

“Hm, I thought you used soju.”

 

“That too. Right now, speed and efficiency are what is needed.”

 

Donghae blew out his breath, already feeling clearer and far more stable. He was still worried, but at least it wasn’t the sharp panic, and he had to trust that Siyeon was alive and waiting for him. “Thanks for the tea.”

 

Jongin smiled. “I’m glad it helped. Shall we rejoin the others who are tilling the soil?”

 

 “Yeah, let’s go.”

 

Leaving the destruction behind – for the moment, because Donghae knew that he’d have to clean it up at some point – he returned to the bar. Once there, he snorted a bit when he saw that his phone had the map entirely loaded in and someone had already been zooming and in finding coordinates.

 

Thankfully, no one out of the fifteen people crowded around the bar made any mention of his absence.

 

“How many are going?” Cael barked, rubbing his face against Donghae’s leg.

 

Eunhyuk looked up from his drawing finally, hints of his power still visible in the glowing gold flecks in his red eyes. “The sigil can transport four others with me, but no more.”

 

“I’m going,” Donghae immediately said, unwilling to take no for an answer.

 

Eunhyuk caught his eyes, and after a moment, finally nodded. “Just stay behind me, okay?”

 

“I’m not helpless,” Donghae countered. “I may not have access to magic, but I can take care of myself if need be.”

 

“Jongin and I too,” Taemin said, hefting his baseball bat. “You take care of one side, we’ll roll up the other.”

 

“Let me go,” Cael barked. “I can find them all.”

 

 “That’s four,” Eunhyuk said, shrugging at the disappointed mutters.

 

“Can someone mind the bar until Jiwoo gets here?” Donghae asked. “Her class doesn’t let out for at least another thirty minutes.”

 

“We got it,” Minhee said, a seductive smile on her lips. Since she was mostly an incubus, Donghae knew that was just her normal way of smiling. “I promise, nothing is going to get taken,” she continued as she sat down on the bar, the slit in her short dress sliding up over her hip.

 

“Okay I need some room,” Eunhyuk said. “Everyone not going, get on the other side of the bar.”

 

“Or?” Minhee asked.

 

“Either the entire bar gets sucked in and all of us _and_ the furniture comes out in five distinct pieces on the other end, or you wind up missing some parts when I pull a shield up to contain the sigil.”

 

After a second or two of horrified looks, a decent area in front of the bar was left open and bare while everyone else huddled along the back wall, Minhee curling into the space Namjoon's wing opened up while Yoongi tried to push his monstorous, bulky form into the corner to give Sooyoung room for her fairy wings between his arm and body while Sunkyu just climbed onto his shoulder by jumping on a table.

 

“Grab some bottles and mark out a circle large enough for everyone to stand in,” Eunhyuk told him quietly.

 

Donghae nodded and grabbed as many bottles as he physically could, laying them out in the requested pattern.

 

Once he, Jongin, Taemin, Cael, and Eunhyuk were all standing inside the circle, Eunhyuk carefully placed the drawn sigil down in the center. He then pulled his hands up as though he were lifting something incredibly heavy. The circle was immediately surrounded by a visible magic barrier, tinting everything visible a golden-orange color.

 

Eunhyuk closed his eyes, whispering words under his breath. Donghae felt a warm breeze flutter by him and he saw the drawing start to lift from the napkins, glowing a fiery red as it rose within the shield. Once it reached the top of the shield, it exploded into brilliant shards that were bright enough to make Donghae close his eyes against the glare.

 

When he opened his eyes, he was standing in an open, grassy avenue at the edge of a tree line, Siyeon’s school no more than fifty meters away. He had to fight against the urge to just immediately run to it, knowing logically that it would just get him killed. Eunhyuk grabbed his hand, threading their fingers together.

 

He smiled at Eunhyuk. “I’m not going to just run in,” he assured. “How are we doing this?”

 

“Did I miss anything?” Hani suddenly asked, startling all of them badly.

 

“A little noise next time please?” Taemin said, slowly lowering his bat.

 

Hani shrugged. “I would have met you here, but Kyuhyun was being a brat, so that held me up.” All of them looked at her with various degrees of horror, to which she just raised her eyebrows. “What? LE didn’t want them, so let the brat have new toys to play with, then he’ll owe us a favor. He doesn’t particularly care if they’re dead or not and it saves on cleanup.”

 

“She has a point,” Taemin muttered, scratching underneath one of his horns.

 

“Let’s go,” Cael whined. “There’s no one around.”

 

“When is he coming?” Eunhyuk asked.

 

“About five minutes, he wanted to look good.”

 

Donghae tugged at Eunhyuk’s hand. “I remember that’s the kitchen, there’s another entrance as you go to the right around the building. The main entrance is on the opposite side from us.”

 

“We’ll take the kitchen,” Taemin offered.

 

“Good idea,” Eunhyuk agreed. “Cael, are you coming with us?”

 

“Yes,” he barked.

 

“Hani, what are you doing?”

 

“I’m the anchor point for the brat to come in, but until he’s ready, I can distract the norms in the room with the girls.”

 

“Good luck, don’t overheat, and don’t get killed,” Eunhyuk told her. “Taemin, go do your thing, we’re going to cut through the trees to get to the other entrance.”

 

Taemin grinned widely and Jongin gave him a quick kiss. “Go get started, love. I’m going to help them move quickly through and I’ll be with you shortly.”

 

With a soft cackle, Taemin walked into the shadow of a tree and promptly disappeared.

 

Jongin started through the tree line, softly whispering leaves and branches out of a narrow path. He stopped halfway through, shuddering as they wound up near an old, ornate vanity that had a thick, oily substance flowing over it slowly and whispers of madness swirling around. Jongin pulled his hands together, immediately covering it with roots and leaves.

 

Donghae grabbed Jongin’s shoulder. “Don’t destroy it, the girls need it.”

 

“Why?” Jongin whispered.

 

“I don’t have the full story from Siyeon, but I think pieces of their souls are in it. I know it’s really important to them, though.”

 

Jongin winced, but turned away from it and waved a path open the rest of the way through the trees. “I have to get away from it,” he said.

 

“Thanks for the help,” Eunhyuk said. “We can make our way through now.”

 

Jongin nodded and nearly ran off back the way that they had come.

 

They all skirted the vanity, Cael folding his ears back in reaction to something only he could hear and moved as fast as they could to the side entrance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> references: 
> 
> Taemin is a gobin, if you need sort of a reference for the look, find CLC's Yuji (I think??) photos for Hobgoblin, Jongin is a wood dryad.
> 
> if y'all haven't figured it out, all of the girls are from Dreamcatcher, so the 'nightmare' part is literal and figurative on Donghae's part - Siyeon is the nightmare of being trapped in a small room in Dreamcatcher's concept. So in this story, she's the literal embodiment of that nightmare. 
> 
> (the vanity that's mentioned in this story appears in the MV for Fly High.)
> 
> as always, kudos and comments are sincerely appreciated


	3. hitches are for trucks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well! I've had an interesting week. experienced my first big earthquake (6.9!) and was wrapped up for a few days following the news about the fissures opening up down in puna (yes I live on Hawai'i Island, yes I'm on the east side, no I'm not in any danger from the current outbreak, I live on another volcano) and then my murder babies (aka dreamcatcher) had a comeback!!!! also, kara got inspired!! she's doing an offshoot (lmao pun intended) for Jongin and Taemin - Jongin's Home for Wayward Supernatural Creatures. Go smother her in love, bc if it wasn't for her, you guys wouldn't have this story XD

Donghae didn’t really feel any pity or remorse as he trailed behind Eunhyuk and Cael, listening to Taemin’s cackling that could be heard across the entire school. The bastards had scared Siyeon, hit her hard enough to send her to the floor, and had threatened her life. Kyuhyun could have them as far as he was concerned.

 

Donghae was literally doing nothing else, since the combination of Cael, Eunhyuk, Jongin, and Taemin had cleared out the first floor in less than two minutes. There were only five on the first floor, which meant that there were ten upstairs with the girls, and he really hoped that Hani was playing things safe.

 

The eerie silence as they met up at the staircase was both worrying and relieving, but as soon as they had started up the stairs, Donghae got the creepy feeling of being watched. Looking over his shoulder, he shook his head as he saw no one there.

 

“Donghae?” Eunhyuk asked, finally breaking the silence.

 

Donghae looked at Eunhyuk, suddenly aware that he had frozen in place in the middle of the stairs, feeling like he couldn’t move. “I –“ He closed his eyes as he suddenly realized what was happening. Blowing out his breath, he focused on Siyeon, feeling the frozen and watched sensations fade back. “The girls,” he said by way of explanation.

 

Eunhyuk grabbed his hand and Donghae smiled, feeling the sensations fade even farther away. Eunhyuk’s skin felt hot enough to burn him, but Donghae didn’t want to let go.

 

“What are they doing?” Taemin asked from the top of the stairs, his bat at the ready.

 

“Waking nightmares, I’m pretty sure that was Sua and Handong there, so there’s going to be more from the other girls. Hani must have distracted everyone enough that the girls could actually start to do it.”

 

“You know all of their nightmares?” Eunhyuk asked curiously as he tugged Donghae along.

 

“Yeah, I’ve met all of them a few times. They’re not allowed to stay all together when they come home, but they can come by and hang out with Siyeon for a while,” he explained. The focus on talking and walking as they wound their way through hallways that seemed to both go nowhere and everywhere helped him ignore the feelings of being lost and panicked.

 

They all jerked as a sharp whistle sounded. Hani was leaning against the wall, her arms folded, next to a sharply dressed man that could have passed for a normal businessperson if it wasn’t for the two curving horns that cut a path through his hair.

 

Kyuhyun sniffed at the air, an appreciative smile starting to appear. Hani immediately whipped her arm out, punching him in the upper arm. “Don’t even think about the girls, brat. You have enough new toys,” she warned.

 

The smile on Kyuhyun’s face faded back into what Donghae knew was a habitual smirk. “Don’t fault me for my nature,” he replied smoothly as he straightened his cuffs. “Shall we, gentlemen?” he asked, waving a hand towards the door.

 

Eunhyuk blew the double doors inwards, which seemed to wake everyone in the room out of whatever dream they had been in or had been creating. Everyone in the room seemed to be moving sluggishly, as though they were still half asleep, which allowed Cael to take two of them out with one pounce while he caught a third with his teeth. Eunhyuk plastered five against the far wall, and Donghae winced as the sound of Taemin’s bat breaking bones was all too clear.

 

“Dad!” Siyeon shouted.

 

Quickly making sure that no one aside from them and the girls were standing, Donghae jumped over a few bodies to get to his little nightmare. Wrapping his arms around her, he hugged her tightly as anxiety and fear for her safety could finally be released. He had his girl back and she was safe.

 

Kissing her red temple, he looked her over for anything else that could have been done to her, noting with relief that aside from where it looked like she was hit on the head that she looked okay.

 

“Are you okay?” he asked as he ran his hands through her loose hair, brushing her bangs away from her eyes.

 

“My head hurts,” she admitted, her lower lip trembling and tears beginning to form in her eyes.

 

“I bet it does,” Donghae soothed, rubbing the tears away with his thumbs. He felt both furious and yet concerned, wanting to go beat every single one of those bastards to death with his bare hands, but Siyeon was crying and he had to deal with that first. Hugging her close, he rocked slightly as she cried against his shoulder, making soothing sounds and petting her hair.

 

Kyuhyun cleared his throat, and Donghae looked up to see that the room was absolutely pristine – even the doors were solidly back on their hinges. “Fast work,” he commented.

 

Kyuhyun shifted his shoulders a bit in his suit. “Good help is rather easy to acquire for the correct price. Do you by chance still have that wonderful nineties vintage DRC bottle?”

 

Donghae smiled a bit. For all he was a demon, Kyuhyun was a total wine connoisseur at heart. “You and Changmin are the only ones would order it. I’ve got another unopened bottle that pretty much has both of your names written on it.”

 

Kyuhyun looked far happier at the knowledge of wine in his future than he did about his new _toys_. Definitely one of the oddest demons who had ever dragged themselves into his bar. “Excellent. I will leave any… emotional issues up to you. Ladies, I’m pleased to have finally formally made your acquaintance after so long. I shall go settle the new ones in place,” he said, brushing a stray piece of lint off his jacket. Waving a hand, he opened a portal that made Donghae vaguely nauseous just looking at it.

 

After Kyuhyun’s multi-dimensional rip had healed up behind him, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Demons were demons, after all.

 

“What a _brat_ ,” Hani muttered. She pulled Siyeon from Donghae’s arms to give her a hug. “I’m glad you’re okay, Singie,” she said, ruffling Siyeon’s hair.

 

“Thanks Aunty Hani,” Siyeon teased.

 

Hani snorted as she began to disappear in a shimmer. “Aunty,” she muttered ruefully as she vanished.

 

Siyeon giggled as she latched back onto Donghae.

 

“You seedlings have had a frightful eclipse and the sun shines again. To make sure your roots stay planted, I’m going to make tea,” Jongin said as he left the room.

 

Taemin waited a beat before shrugging. “Tea sounds good. I’m going to go help.”

 

Donghae looked at Eunhyuk. “Translation?”

 

Eunhyuk shrugged. “Tea, I guess. While they’re making tea and you and Cael are with the girls, I’m going to make sure this will never happen again.”

 

Donghae smiled, that little flutter of emotion coming back. “Thank you,” he said simply. The gratefulness towards everyone in the bar, ready and willing to help him get to Siyeon, nearly overwhelmed him for a moment, and he only steadied when Eunhyuk walked to him and cupped his face with searingly hot hands.

 

“I know,” he whispered. “I’m going to make sure our girls are safe.”

 

Donghae nodded, not really trusting his voice.

 

“Soooo…” Siyeon muttered as Eunhyuk walked out of the room. “That was new. Are you _finally_ getting a date, Dad?”

 

Donghae coughed, a little embarrassed. “I do have plans for tonight,” he admitted.

 

Siyeon looked shocked, then she let out a yell and hugged him tightly. “ _Finally_!” she squealed in his ear at a volume loud enough to nearly rupture his eardrum. “Do you have a date with Eunhyuk?”

 

Donghae forgot that having a kid meant that said child had the liberty of embarrassing him at any point in time. “Yes.”

 

“Ooooooo,” Siyeon breathed, smiling widely.

 

Donghae rolled his eyes and kissed her forehead. “Shh. Let’s get you girls settled. You can tease me when you get home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> srs, go read kara's story and go watch dreamcatcher's new mv it's absolutely amazing and stunning - everyone involved in this comeback needs like 5 raises for the wonderful job they did
> 
>  
> 
> as always, comments and kudos are appreciated

**Author's Note:**

> references: 
> 
> title is a play on Spider Robinson's Callahan series - the book Time Travelers Strictly Cash. I highly recommend reading the series, it's wonderful fun and makes you feel a bit better about humanity.
> 
> Cael is both a nod to kewltie's Cael (come on who doesn't love him?) and to Spider Robinson. Cael's ability to talk is based on the character Rolph Von Wow-Wow, but the reasons (and species) is different.
> 
> As always, kudos and comments are appreciated


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